7 Ways to Break Into the Music Industry and Win Tips to help you navigate the music industry with ease.

Starting in the music industry can be overwhelming. Sooner or later, these questions will start to arise; where to begin? What to focus on? Where to share your content? How to build connections in the industry? Whether you're an artist, music magazine, blog, label, music venue, producer, or any other music-related professional; these tips will apply to you in one way or another and hopefully will help you answer these questions.

You might be wondering who I am and why I'm qualified to be telling you about winning in the music industry? My name is Aleks Brzoska, and I'm the founder of a thriving music streaming platform/service. Despite only being around for 7 months, we already stood number one on the podium for the fastest-growing music platform. Sure, it was only on occasional days during this period, however, when competing against industry giants like Spotify, Deezer and Tidal, it's a nice achievement to have, right?

So grab your notepad and let's get into the seven most important things that I learned from my journey in the music business so far!

Know the music industry inside out

Knowledge is your advantage over your competitors. Learn everything about all aspects of the music industry, no matter how irrelevant they may seem right now. This will always come in useful, even if it's just during a conversation with a connection to make a good first impression; after all, you will be working with people from different parts of the industry, furthermore, it's in your best interest to know how each sector of the music business works, so you understand the bigger picture and have more insight when it comes to deals or how systems work in the industry. It's a lot, but if you're serious, it should be fun for you to learn. Never stop learning.

There are many ways in which you can learn, whether it's by reading books or blogs, watching videos or courses, getting an internship with a music professional/company, making a connection, or by getting more experience.

"Your network is your net worth." — Tim Sanders

Plan your journey

Make long-term goals and regular short-term goals, then tick them off once you achieve them to give you a better idea of your progress.

To have a successful journey you must not only know where you're going but also how you're going to get there. The best way, that I know, to stay on track is to make to-do lists before going to sleep, ready to tick off the next day; that way you're using your time efficiently, not procrastinating and making good progress.

Related: 5 Project-Planning Tips to Help You Meet Your Goals

Follow trends, but stand out

The music industry is all about trends and what's hot right now, however, you must add your own unique feel/look/sound (depending on what your business is), to your brand/image/music in order to stand out from others and give people a reason to become a fan. The way in which you portray yourself, or your brand has a direct influence on the type of audience demographic you will mostly attract.

Related: Creating Content for a Specific Audience is Important In Music Marketing

Try to add a unique twist to what is popular right now; as much as people love what they know, they get excited when they hear something new/unique. It's the way human nature works, dating all the way back to when humans began to explore the world, for example, in terms of what we can or can't eat, which allowed us to survive in different parts of the world and develop as a species, that's why we love novelty so much.

Take control of your budget

That's right, taking control of your financials in music is just as important as in any other business. You need to know what percentage of your budget you should invest, and in what. What is important now, and what can wait? Marketing, equipment, freelancers, distribution, travel costs, etc. are the types of things you should consider, depending on what stage you are at in your career, unfortunately, you have to decide that yourself.

Of course, it's possible to make it big in the music industry without a big budget. Social media is a powerful tool that costs nothing, however, be prepared to put in hard work to regularly post creative, high-quality content.

If you take advantage of tip number one from this article, you'll be a pro at managing your budget. They say investing in yourself is the best investment you can make, and it's true, but I think good marketing comes close.

Be active on social media

These days we see many new artists emerging from social media. It seems like every week we see a new chart-topper make their way into the industry from YouTube, however, it's not just artists that should be taking advantage of social platforms; where else are you going to accumulate your fan base and show off your brand/talent to the world?

As powerful as YouTube is for music professionals, we also see TikTok manipulating the music charts like it's a breeze. When a catchy song becomes a trending sound on TikTok, it is almost guaranteed to land a place on the top 40 music charts, not to mention all the top 10s and number 1s we have seen over the last two years claim their place on the charts, as a result of blowing up on TikTok.

There are countless benefits of being active on social media as a music professional, and arguably, one of the most important things to be doing for any business, simply due to the enormous amounts of people you can reach; like my favorite real estate investor, Grant Cardone always says; "Attention equals money".

There are many other apps and online music communities that you can be a part of, and use to your advantage, such as singing/karaoke apps, music blogs, or even music streaming platforms where you can upload your own music or gain followers, for example, by building playlists then adding your music to those playlists once you rack up some listeners. Be creative with the ways you promote yourself on social media, and you'll see a whole new world of unique marketing opportunities that no one talks about.

Network, network, network

To be well-networked in the music industry is to be prosperous in the music industry. This will take time and usually your connections will accumulate naturally during your journey once you become more active, but don't be afraid to get in touch with someone; just make sure to have a good reason to reach out.

The best connections are made spontaneously, during natural interactions; that way you're building a true and mutual relationship. These don't always come easy unless you have mutual friends or are working together on the same project, so it's a good idea to attend related events, courses, and get in touch with agents, labels, venues or artists directly.

Remember that you can also put yourself out there and invite others to connect with you by creating a piece of content for social media, explaining who you are and who you'd like to connect with, then sharing with your followers or paying a music-related influencer to share with their followers.

There are potential connections everywhere, as a matter of fact, I'll be your first one! I'm happy to answer questions, advise, connect you with the right people, introduce you to industry leaders and hear what you thought about the article; You can find my contact details at the top of this article.

Related: 10 rules for successful networking

Be patient

"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success". — Napoleon Hill

It might not come easy for most, but it's worth it. The music industry is very fun and lucrative if you stay loyal to it. What's better than being rewarded for doing what you love? If it means learning the industry and working on your craft, whilst living below your means for two years, so be it.

With your fresh shot of knowledge and boost of motivation, go and conquer the music industry!